Progress in Metamaterial and Metasurface Technology and Applications

Abstract

The first proposal for left-handed material, or metamaterial, was made in 1968, and it was experimentally studied in 2001, exhibiting negative refraction with plasmonic metamaterial. Such artificially structured metal-dielectric composite initially used simple printed circuit technology and was designed only at microwave frequency for proof of concept. Various innovative technological approaches were developed thereafter, including the use of nanowires and all-dielectric metamaterials at optical frequencies. Though started with the negative refraction property, the application potential of metamaterial henceforth proliferated exponentially in the design of cloaking and sub-wavelength imaging devices, antennae and passive components, absorbers and sensors at microwave and higher frequencies. In the course of time, metamaterial was also found to exhibit more novel and tailorable functionalities with gain assisting, non-linear and switchable properties having application possibilities in lasers and high-speed optical switching. The use of metasurfaces has recently emerged as an efficient technique to manipulate wave-front dynamics of electromagnetic signals at the sub-wavelength extent at microwave to optical frequencies with potential application in transformation optics, laser spasers and so forth. The purpose of this chapter is to give a comprehensive roadmap of the progress of metamaterial and metasurface technology as well as application viewpoints from its inception to recent times.